MEGADETH's new official biography contains several quotes from the band's mainman, Dave Mustaine, about the musical direction of MEGADETH's upcoming album, "United Abonimations", and Mustaine's lyrical approach on the new CD. Read on:

On MEGADETH's new CD, "United Abominations", being "a career landmark album":

"It's kind of a defibrillator for the metal community. Somebody's got to step up to the plate, play solos again, and play heavy rhythms that are actually recorded live in the studio - because it ain't the same six seconds pasted 300 times. Somebody had to do it again."

"It's really invigorating to go back to playing thrash and speed metal. I started playing this type of music because I loved the way it made me feel. When I started the turnaround with 'The World Needs a Hero' and 'The System Has Failed', it was obvious this was going to be where the buck stops."

On the recording sessions for "United Abominations":

"We were in the studio and Glen [Drover, guitar] had put his rhythms down on 'Sleepwalker'. And Andy [Sneap, producer/mixer] said to me, 'You know you don't really need to put your rhythm down there,' And I said, 'Oh yeah I do. My rhythm style is totally different from anybody's.' And as soon as I started playing, he goes, 'That's right! It's an old-school digging in, innit?' And I said, 'Yeah Andy. That's it.'"

On the new album's lyrical approach:

"If you have the goods musically, you can say whatever you want, and [on this album] I basically said it. I said how I feel about the United Nations. I said how I feel about the New World Order. I said how I feel about the ignorance and apathy of our fathers right now that are leading our country who are just letting everything be taken away from us."

"It's OK to practice freedom of speech, assembly, the press, religion, except when it comes to making you unpopular. When you take a stand for what's right you often become unpopular. I'm not a really popular guy. I may be semi-famous but I'm really more infamous than famous."

"I know there are some people who are prejudiced against this type of music. But I'm ready to get out there and see what the response is going to be like from the public.

"I can say that I have absolutely made my best MEGADETH record, ever."

Dream Theater confirmed today that they'll be playing UK's Download 2007. Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy can't wait: "Fuck yeah! It's about time!!! I am absolutely stoked for Dream Theater to finally play Download... In a career already filled with so many personal achievements and dreams having been realized, somehow an invitation to play Download or Donington has always eluded us thus far... After all our hard work for the past 21 years and having made so many fans and friends in the U.K., it's nice to finally get the invitation! This gig will come within the first month of a world tour that will last well into 2008 for us, but I can already predict this will be one of the highlights of the year for us..."

Hayder Kadhim, a student who was shot three times by gunman Kimveer Gill at Dawson College in Montreal, Quebec, Canada last September, is outraged that MEGADETH is set to release a new version of a song that inspired the gunman.

Frontman Dave Mustaine spoke to Cassandra Szklarski of the Canadian Press and commented about the track long misinterpreted as pro-suicide when in fact it was written about the sudden death of his mother.

"The song doesn't belong to the killer. The song belongs to the people of Montreal, if anything it belongs to me and it was my gift to them. It was never meant to be misinterpreted like that."

The gunman, Kimveer Gill singled out "A Tout le Monde" as one of his favourites in hate-filled online posts that immediately preceded his rampage Sept. 13, when he shot dead student Anastasia De Sousa and injured 20 others. He killed himself after being wounded in a shootout with police.

"For the simple fact that Kimveer Gill was listening to (the song) and he injured students like me and also killed Anastasia, who was a friend of mine, this artist should put this song on the side out of respect to the victims," Kadhim said. "That song triggered Kimveer Gill's actions."

Kadhim, a hip-hop artist, still has fragments of a bullet in his head and another bullet remains lodged in his neck.

If MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine is thinking of capitalizing on the shootings, "I think that's disrespectful to us. I believe respect comes before money," Kadhim said.

Rose Slanic, general manager of Roadrunner Records Canada, which is releasing the MEGADETH album, said the song was recorded prior to the Dawson shooting and is not disrespectful toward the victims.

"From our standpoint," she said "we don't affiliate ourselves with negative things. There's no negative message in the song."

LiveDaily.com reports: Heaven and Hell--featuring two founding members of Black Sabbath along with interim Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio and former Sabbath drummer Vinnie Appice--have announced dates for an inaugural US tour this spring.

Original Sabbath drummer Bill Ward, who was originally announced as being part of the reunion, has been replaced by Appice, who joined the group for a brief stretch in the early '80s and appeared on two of the group's albums.

The US dates follow the band's earlier announcement of a March trek through Canada, ending with a March 30 one-off at New York's Radio City Music Hall, a date which sold out in a "matter of minutes," according to the group's publicist.

The new dates kick off April 22 in Phoenix and will see the group canvas 20 cities across the country, starting off on the West Coast and slowly moving eastward. Tickets go on sale to the public March 9, except for the May 2 Houston date, which will go on sale March 17. A special fan presale for all dates will take place Wednesday (3/7) beginning at noon EST. More information on the presale can be obtained at a special website set up by the group.

Opening support for the trek will include fellow metal icons Megadeth, who will preview material from their forthcoming new album, "United Abominations," due in stores May 8. Additional support will come from Machine Head, backing its new album, "The Blackening," which is set for a March 27 release.

Here are the confirmed Heaven and Hell North American tour dates: More...

'A Tout Le Monde' has been given a 2007 upgrade and will be the lead single from 'United Abominations'

The track, originally released on the 'Youthanasia' album from 1994, has been re-recorded and features a guest appearance by Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia. The track will differ from the original in that it is said to be more up tempo and include an extended solo.

But no one can tell the tale like Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, "[The original] video was banned, the single was shelved, and without [the fans'] loving support of a truly beautiful song it would have died. MTV banned it because they said it was a 'song about suicide,' as did many people, but why would the line 'I'd love to stay with you all' be in there? It would need to say something like 'I want to die,' right? And I had a manager at the time that was told, along with me, by MTV not to use director Wayne Isham because we had used him too much odd request, but I heard them loud and clear. Of course, management didn't listen and tried to slip it into MTV under a pseudonym and MTV flipped. They are/were pissed at me for something I didn't do and I would be OK if it was something I did, but I told the manager, and David Ellefson can attest to this, NOT to use Wayne. Their solution was to ban the $300,000-plus video, and radio in America was following MTV very closely at the time ? still do to an extent ? and did not play the single. The song was left at the altar. I got sent a bill. Then after the [college] shooting in Montreal [in 2006], where someone tried tying this song into that horrific act, I knew it was time to follow something that had been haunting me from the start of that song: I could not allow myself to accept the failure of my music because of someone else. I will take the heat, I am well forged by now, so there is yesterday's news.

"But there was something else: I'd wanted to hear that song as a duet, since it truly was a song of love. But the person had to be perfect had to be angelic. I decided, and I have sang 'A Tout Le Monde' again with Cristina Scabbia because she is that person. I had Lisa Marie Presley confirmed, as well as two other attempts, but Cristina was the obvious choice for our metal community. The song was sped up a little, like it was supposed to be on 'Youthanasia' before all the tempos were turned down. It has a 50% longer solo of original Glen Drover lead guitar blending into the original [Marty] Friedman solo, and launching off of that at the end of the solo taking it up a little bit more.

"So, now that leaves us with what to do with this song. Well, its intention was only to soothe my wounds, and it was meant to be a 'B-side' for Japan, but that didn't happen, as you will no doubt read. The song was finished and turned in to the record company and the radio department and everyone, including people that have heard the song before, are saying, 'This is the single for America!' There was excitement and a buzz, and they ALL agreed on this, which is a feat in itself when you have some many creative people in one place at any given time.

"Imagine my surprise, and my sense of being vindicated, and then the shock and concern about you [the fans] not understanding (which apparently you don't), let alone the indifferent public, which is now the primary target, since you have already heard it and it was supposed to be a simple 'B-side,' and the haters who will undoubtedly hate. On one hand it worked, and on the other, I have to explain myself, which I don't like.

But it gets stranger.

"Now 'A Tout Le Monde' has a new life and people are reacting, but there is concern about, as I was told, 'the guy in Arkansas that calls the song 'A Toot Lay Monday.' I said, 'I say the pronounciation in the song,' but it was suggested to me, to help the public to discover this classic you all know and most love (and some don't want tampered with) to add a subtitle.

"I said, 'huh?' The moments after that were inconsequential, and I just found myself agreeing because there were worse things I had to fix at the time, and I had to pick which thing I was going to give my attention to at 'crunch time.'

"So, in an effort to make things easier for the DJs, and remember this is just for radio, there has been a subtitle added to 'ATLM' ala 'A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free)' for the album and the single has been called 'Set Me Free (A Tout Le Monde)' for radio by Roadrunner.

"You have gotten 'Sleepwalker', we posted 'Gears of War', and everyone seems to have heard 'Washington Is Next!', and I think we are doing pretty good.

"All I can say is, just trust me on this one. Again, it was meant to be a 'B-side' and with all of the professionals over at Roadrunner, I think they really may be right and they may have a real surprise for you.

"We shoot the video for this song on the 8th of this month [March] before I leave for Vancouver, and Cristina shoots her part on the 9th.

"Thank you to the guys in LACUNA COIL for supporting Cristina in doing this, and to you Ms. Scabbia, you were fantastic!"

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine posted the following message on the forums section of their official website:

"I will have an announcement to make concerning our upcoming tour dates and what follows after that. Have a great time speculating, and love and bruises to you all.

"[By the way], I hope to see a lot of old friends on the upcoming promo tour this month. It won't be long until the reviews [of the new MEGADETH album] start coming in, and I just want to say there will mixed opinions of some of the songs due to subject matter, but I look forward to your thoughts and opinions. I know you are some of the wisest fans in all of music, let alone metal."

Some numb-nuts posted a very *tiny,* semi-final version of this artwork online a few days ago, but if you want to see the REAL DEAL in high-def, as approved by Megadeth's Dave Mustaine himself, we give to you United Abominations.

Set for release through Roadrunner this Spring, Megadeth's new CD was mixed by Andy Sneap, and includes the song "Gears of War," available in its DEMO form on RR.com.

A video clip of Megadeth performing their new song, entitled "Washington is Next," on Oct 14, 2006 at the Loud Park '06 festival in Tokyo, Japan has now been posted at Megadeth's official MySpace site.

Megadeth's upcoming album, "United Abominations," has been set for a May 8th release date (May 5th in Australia).

Megadeth will be embarking on the Heaven and Hell tour this spring, along with Down.

Singer/Guitarist Dave Mustaine has posted the following message in the "Forums" section of the band's official web site:

"So, yes the May 8th date (Saturday May 5th in Australia) is finally confirmed [for the new MEGADETH album, 'United Abominations'] now that the mix is nearly done. I hate saying when release dates are, because sometimes they change, and you have to deal with naysayers who behave like the ultimate inch of colon, but I would rather this record was finished to my standards, and above (which it is . . . about time, I know) than put out a soft record.

"Metal needs a really good old-school record again. I believe I have delivered. It ain't 'Rust in Peace 2', but it could be the record that makes me forget about everything in between."

According to postings on various venue web sites, Megadeth will be taking part in Heaven and Hell's Canadian tour, which will also include Down in the opening slot. An official tour announcement is expected shortly. Expected dates for the tour are as follows:

"OK, I got done listening to the Geezer Butler and Ronnie James Dio interviews with Eddie Trunk. I wasn't planning on staying up, as I was pretty tired, but I got into it. Was nice chatting with some of y'all over on Eddie's site during the show. Wanted to post a few updates based on what was said. Here's some tidbits. These were all said by either Geezer, Ronnie, or Eddie on the show.

As I covered earlier in the evening, the first US gig for the Heaven and Hell tour will be March 30th at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. There will be no opening act for this show, it's just Heaven and Hell. Tickets are expected to be priced between $54.00 - $74.00 and go on sale Friday, January 26th at 10am. There will be other US dates, likely in August. No further info is available on them yet.

After the US dates, they will likely play UK, Japan, & Australia. Both Geezer & Ronnie said that it is pretty likely there will be no Ozzy era tracks played during the Heaven and Hell shows.

Tour rehearsals start roughly two weeks from now.

Black Sabbath: The Dio years will be released Apr 3rd.

All three newly recorded tracks will be on the "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years" album. It was previously reported that only two would be, but all three will be there.

There are no keyboards on the newly recorded tracks.

Keyboards on the tour will be handled by Scott Warren from Dio's band.

Geezer did not write any of this new stuff, nor did Bill or Vinny - these tracks were written by Tony & Ronnie. Side note: A recent Rudy Sarzo interview said that two of the three new SABBATH tracks were originally ideas Ronnie had put forth for the next DIO album, but got used here instead.

Ronnie feels that this was never intended to be a full fledged reunion when it started, just the couple of tracks for the compilation. He did say that the opportunity to dust off the old Dio era tracks was too great to pass up. Finally, he said that history has shown they can't plan too far ahead for this, and that they do not intend at this point to carry on past the tour.

Part of the reason they called this Heaven and Hell and not Black Sabbath was that they all felt that Sabbath was "back together" for awhile now with Ozzy, and that since they went into the hall of fame with that lineup, that that's the way "Black Sabbath" will remain. I've said that for a few years now that we'd likely never see another lineup change in Sabbath, and it looks like that's coming to pass.

Ronnie feels that this tour/new material is an affirmation of the legacy Dio era of Sabbath. I agree with him. It's great to see this again. I saw these guys in 1992 on the Dehumanizer tour. Be great to see it again.

A personal observation. "The Dio Years" is coming out on Rhino. Rhino has also put out some more recent Sabbath things, like the two CD Symptom of the Universe set and Black Box. These items were released in North America ONLY. I will attempt to find out if this will be the case for Dio Years too, or if it will be a more worldwide release. Given the nature of the tour, I would think so, but I cannot find that out either way at this point.

Ronnie also said that after the Heaven and Hell thing is finished, he will be going back into the studio with Dio to record Magica II & III and then tour "with a stage show worthy of the story". This will be great, as I was really into Dio's stage shows back for Last in Line & Sacred Heart. Great stuff. Be nice if he does that, but I saw Dio on the Magica tour, and he played to at most 1500 people in Dallas. It'd be awfully expensive to lug around a stage show like Sacred Heart to only play to that many. We'll see."

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine and Dean Guitars have announced a new guitar line called the "Vehement: VMNT" (Photo#1, Photo#2), and unveiled the new instruments today (January 19) at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) convention in Anaheim, CA. (A live video feed of Dave Mustaine taking part in a signing session at the Dean Guitars booth at NAMM is available at this location.) Mustaine and Dean Guitars joined forces late last year and are working closely on the specifications of the guitar line.

"The whole process has been surreal," said Mustaine. "It's been dream-like, but is more real than any dream I've ever had. They understand what a guitarist expects out of his gear, and we share a vision, a loyalty and an understanding of guitars. Working with Dean has been one of the greatest thrills for me as a musician."

Commenting on his new Dean guitar, Mustaine said, "We designed this thing… the last couple of hours. [Laughs] It feels like that. Dean [Dean Guitars founder Dean B. Zelinsky] I talked a little bit over a month and a half ago. And we just went into the shop and started bulding this [guitar] right away. We wanted to make it play better than any of the other guitars I had, so we took a lot the old guitars that had really good things about them, and we added it all together, and this is the end result."

When asked why he chose Dean over other guitar companies, Mustaine said, "Because they understand the value of Dave Mustaine and MEGADETH. And it's mutual. I know that this is the right place for me to finish out my career, endorsing their products, and having my guitars made by Dean."

Megadeth guitarist Glen Drover just made the following post in the Forum of www.megadeth.com.

"Since I have returned from the U.K. trip with Dave to finish United Abominations, I have been reflecting on what we have accomplished over the last year with this new recording..

"The whole experience has been a lot of fun for me, as well as learning so much from Dave in the process. All of us have worked so well together on this record, which is what good chemistry is all about!

"Speaking of working well together and chemistry, Andy Sneap [producer/mixer] has really been a blessing for us. He knew exactlly what to do with this album, was very easy to work with and has become a good friend as well. I look foward to working with him again!

"Aside from all of that stuff, there will be some cool news coming up in the world of Megadeth. Stay tuned..."

LESSON ONE for all aspiring bands out there: if you think you’re good, make sure you tell as many people as possible. Just ask Florida metallers Trivium.

When the quartet signed with Roadrunner in 2004, they supported the release of their second album Ascendancy with interviews in which they confidently voiced their desire to be one of the biggest bands in the world. Think Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer, they suggested, and one day you will also think Trivium.

Not surprisingly, the notoriously suspicious metal world reared back, took one look at the young upstarts - frontman Matt Heafy was all of 19 when he made the claim - and laughed. Until, that is, they heard Ascendancy and its classic thrash metal stylings, the likes of which turned them into genuine stars in the UK, where they recently performed in front of 80,000 people at the Download festival and supported Iron Maiden.

“All the other bands that were around and that were getting pretty stale were pretty shocked [by what we said],” Heafy says triumphantly. “But now they see we’re still around and hammering away, and all the disbelievers, they’re not really saying anything any more. We haven’t really seen anything negative since [just-released third album] The Crusade came out.”

Heafy’s first taste of metal came in 1998 when a friend gave the-then impressionable 12-year-old a copy of Metallica’s Black album. Amazed at its technicality, aggression and catchiness, he delved into the band’s back catalogue, devouring both it and any albums released by the band’s late-80s/early-90s thrash peers. Not surprisingly, when he started playing guitar and formed Trivium, what came out was a noise that owed a debt more to the bands of yesteryear than it did Korn, Deftones and Limp Bizkit.

MEGADETH/EIDOLON guitarist Glen Drover has recorded a guest solo on the new album from Swedish melodic metal band LION'S SHARE. Also scheduled to appear on the CD are drummer Richard Evensand (CHIMAIRA, SOILWORK), guitarist Bruce Kulick (KISS), and singer Mats Levén (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, THERION, AT VANCE, KRUX), who is responsible for the backing vocals on the entire CD.

LION'S SHARE has uploaded some photos from the current mixing sessions with Ronny Lahti (ROXETTE, SAIGON KICK, EUROPE, GLENN HUGHES, ELECTRIC BOYS) at their MySpace page. Lahti previously worked with the group on their third album, "Fall from Grace".

The as-yet-untitled CD, which is expected to be released in April/May, will feature the following tracks (not in final order): More...

Megadeth bassist James Lomenzo will take part in an online chat next Sunday, January 14th, at 3PM PST/6PM EST, via the band's MegaFanClub. Of course this means that the chat will only be open to registered fan club members.

Whilst being burried under the workload of this last session with Andy Sneap on the new album, I can't help but enjoy the countryside out here in Derbyshire, England. I am working on finishing by Thursday (fingers crossed), and will return to the states to start unwinding, in order to just wind back up again for the US run which is going to be super selective cities, venues, and with the perfect support groups.

Gigantour NA will go out in January of 2008, as we are going to be spending most of 2007 trying to get into some of the countries that we have not been in for a while. Of course this means scaling things down so we can revisit, or in the case of South Africa (which I yearn to play), visiting for the first time; and places like Serbia, or Romania again, now that we have made our first impression there. I still hope to find my cell phone in Serbia; I certainly can't have the posuers in my cell phone being revealed and crank-called. Well, there are two idiots that I guess I would enjoy getting cranked, but whatev!!!

So, here are the new song titles that I know you know:"Gears Of War""Washington Is Next""United Abominations"

And here are some other titles:"Amerikhastan""Blessed Are The Dead""Never Walk Alone"

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine posted the following today on the band's website:

"I am currently in Derbyshire, England with Andy Sneap finishing the record. Glen is over here doing some last-minute sleeping on the couch, er, uh, just kidding. He is seriously shredding some solos! :-)

"I, on the other hand, am finishing off the last remaining fixes on songs and last remaining vocal performances. There is a small list of guitars solos and three rhythm parts I need to finish and then we are into mix mode.

"I am just back from a walk in the English countryside with Pam, and I was thinking that I wanted to share with you the exceptional vibes that are taking place out here, but then I thought forget it! Last thing Andy needs is the sheep next door having Megadeth spray-painted on them, or worse!!! :-)

Billboard.com reports: Metal mainstay Megadeth will release "That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires" on DVD March 6 via Image Entertainment. Recorded during an Oct. 9, 2005, concert at Obras Stadium in Argentina, the 17-song show was performed for more than 25,000 fans.

The set list draws from tracks like “Wake Up Dead," "A Tout le Monde" and an alternate version of "Symphony of Destruction."

The quartet is currently preparing another full-length for Roadrunner, the follow-up to 2004's "The System Has Failed."